Rothschild Quits Bumi Board Position

The Wall Street Journal reported that financier Nat Rothschild has resigned from his position on the board of Bumi plc due to increasing board dissent over how to manage financial issues caused by a cash shell listed by the company last year. The final straw for Rothschild appears to have been Bakrie Group’s offer to buy Bumi’s Indonesian assets for $1.2 billion; Rothschild intends to continue fighting against Bakrie Group despite his resignation.

As quoted in the market news:

In his resignation letter to Bumi Chairman Samin Tan, Mr. Rothschild, the scion of the European banking dynasty, laid out his reasons for opposing the offer that the Bakrie family put forth last week. He said that “it would be a disgrace to proceed with, or even to entertain, the proposal made by the Bakries” before the [financial] investigation has been completed.

Mr. Rothschild also said that Mr. Tan wasn’t trying to protect the interests of minority shareholders and added that he believes Mr. Tan was “complicit in their oppression.”

“You appear determined to drive through the Bakries’ proposal,” Mr. Rothschild said in the letter. “I believe that this proposal is so obviously not in the interests of minority shareholders that I find it impossible to stay on as a Director. I am afraid that I have lost confidence in the ability of the PLC Board to stand up for investors.”